The Sea(l)'s Song
by Broken Twisted Lullabies
Summary: After fleeing from Skin hunters, Gabriel finds himself washed up on an unfamiliar island, missing his skin. He only hopes he can find it before someone else does so he can return to the sea and be reunited with his pod [Selkie AU]


**Apologies for the radio silence for two weeks. School's hit me so hard and I'm living off barely enough sleep plus way too much hot chocolate (it's becoming like a coffee addiction) but to make it up to you guys, two updates!**

 **The prompt for this one was dialogue in another language, and I was originally going to do either french or spanish cause I know enough of that to write without the help of google translate and stuff, but after I got this one idea in my head, I couldn't drop it and knew neither language would work perfectly for it. So I do not at all speak or know Scottish Gaelic, and if there are any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them! Also, yes this is a Selkie AU. I don't care if its been done before, I'm doing it and you can't pry this from my cold dead hands. So expect more of Selkie!Gabriel. (and maybe other mythical creatures because I'm a sucker for mythology and mythological creatures and recently read this murderfish AU that was just amazing) **

**Enjoy.**

 **Also, disclaimer: _I got the Selkie Au idea from_** ** _the fic_** _Seal Lullaby_ ** _from Ao3 by_** _quantumoddity **. I do plan however, to take a different route with this than the author did with theirs.**_

* * *

Gabriel finds himself sitting on the rocks near the edge of the water, looking out at the horizon, watching as the clouds in the distance began to grow darker. A storm was definitely on its way and Gabriel just hoped it wouldn't last long, he had hoped to go into town in a couple days before they left, but judging by the clouds, he had a feeling that might not happen.

He heard the thunder of feet and tearing his gaze from the ocean, he saw his younger sibling running towards him, panic written in the pup's face. "Tha mi duilich! Tha mi duilich, Gabriel! ( _I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Gabriel!_ )" he cried, flinging himself at the other and Gabriel quickly caught him, skin slipping as he did so.

"Castiel, dè tha ceàrr? ( _Castiel, what's wrong?_ )" he asked the pup in his arms and Cas mumbled something into his skin. "Dè? ( _what?_ )" Gabriel asked and Cas moved to repeat what he said, this time clearly.

Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he spoke quickly, constantly looking back at where he had come from. "B 'e tubaist a bh' ann!Chunnaic iad mi ag atharrachadh agus - ( _It was an accident! They saw me changing and -_ )" he then began to sob in his brother's arms and Gabriel murmured quietly how it wasn't his fault, and that everything would be okay. He then told Castiel to get his skin from their den and tell the others if he bumped into any of them while Gabriel went to tell Michael they had to leave, immediately.

Castiel began to apologize again and Gabriel pulled his brother in for one more hug, telling him again that everything was fine and he wouldn't be in trouble for what happened, only that he needed to act quickly so they could escape. Gabriel then wiped the tears from the pup's cheeks before they headed off their separate ways, Cas towards the den and Gabriel flinging on his skin and diving into the water.

He bumped into Michael not too far away. "Hunan-craiceann. Chunnaic iad Castiel agus a-nis a 'tighinn an seo ( _Skin hunters. They saw Castiel and now coming here_ )," Gabriel explained quickly, cutting straight to the point and Michael nodded, eyes dark.

"Faigh a 'chòrr ( _Get the rest_ )," Michael growled. "Feumaidh sinn fàgail gu luath ( _We have to leave quickly_ )."

Gabriel nodded and swam off, back in the direction where Cas went with Michael on his tail.

* * *

 _Faster, faster, faster!_ His mind chants this over and over as he moves through the water, keeping his eyes focused on his younger brother in front of him. Every so often, he glances over his shoulder, catching the dark shadow of the boat that's following them, hunting the pod down for their skin. It's worth a pretty penny, and his mind makes up different scenarios as to what might happen if these eager fishermen catch them.

The waves grow rougher and water colder as they swim far and farther from the familiar water and Gabriel finds his fear growing as the chase continues, sensing the shift in the ocean. They're swimming right towards the storm that Gabriel had seen earlier, and he knows this won't be good. It's never safe to be caught in unfamiliar open waters with a storm brewing. Especially with one creating waves this rough.

"Clì. Lean mise! ( _Left. Follow me!)"_ Michael calls out, from the front, swerving around a school of fish and taking them into deeper waters.

It's getting worse and Gabriel worries that even if they out swim the boat on their trail, they're still facing a storm that won't show them no mercy. He doesn't want anything to happen to his pod, but with a storm like this, it's hard to guarantee everyone will be fine.

"Gabriel, cùm suas! ( _Gabriel, keep up!)"_ Michael barks, glancing over at his little brother and Gabriel offers an apology, realizing that while trapped in his thoughts, he seemed to have slowed down.

He pushes himself harder, cutting through the water but the shadow still hasn't given up yet on them. The current slams into him, shifting him slightly off course and Gabriel curses. The waves aren't making it easy for him to keep up with the others, and he finds himself beginning to fall behind from the rest of the pod.

"Feitheamh, feitheamh! ( _Wait, wait!)"_ he calls out as the seal in front of him starts to disappear, growing smaller and smaller. "Michael, Lucifer, feitheamh!"

The waves are too strong and as he goes to take a breath of air, he finds himself pushed roughly under. Shaking his head, he looks around for the others, but now it's just him in the dark waters, the others seeming to have vanished.

 _No! Where are they?_ He wondered, swimming frantically in a random direction, calling out the names of his brothers. But there's no answer as the storm gets worse, and he whimpers, eyes wide and searching. He wants his pod, or at least a cave to find shelter in away from the storm, but he's stuck out in the open with waves that keep tossing him everywhere.

He swims for ages, following wherever the waves take him as he struggles to find the others, exhaustion beginning to weigh down his body. One wave becomes particularly rough and all of a sudden, everything goes dark as he hits one of the rocky patches in the water.

* * *

The first thing he realizes is that the ground is cool and damp beneath him, and without opening his eyes, Gabriel feels around blindly. He groans as he stretches his arm a bit too far and then slowly sinks his fingers into the sand, pulling himself forwards, away from the waves that lick his ankles. He then opens his eyes, blinking and begins to pull himself into a sitting position before freezing, eyes growing wide. He looks down at his hand, following them up to his arms and then down at his legs.

 _How was it possible? Unless...his skin! He must've lost it somehow after going unconscious and washing up on shore_.

Gabriel took his eyes off his human form, instead scanning the beach for any sign of his skin, hoping that it was neither stolen by a human, or by the ocean herself. He couldn't spot it immediately and dread began to form in his stomach, as he realized that if he didn't find it soon, he'd end up like those selkies he had heard stories of growing up, ones where their pelts were stolen from them and locked away, made slaves to humans. He didn't want to be like them, he wanted to see his pod again, to not be permanently trapped on land.

So he begins to stand up on shaky legs, using one of the rocks beside him as support. A low hiss leaves his lips as a hot pain erupts from his side. Looking down, he notices a nasty scratch which is far from life threatening, but bad enough that it's gonna make things a bit trickier than what he had expected.

He plans to ignore the pain temporarily, instead focusing on finding his skin. The sooner he'd find it, the sooner he can escape and find his pod. With unsteady steps, he begins to search the area right around where he washed up on the beach, believing it couldn't have gotten too far. But after an hour or so of searching, he finds it might've gone farther than he imagined. Gabriel frowns, crossing his arms across his chest and scanning the rocky area in front of him, not spotting the familiar colour of his pelt. _Where was it?_

The sound of footfalls makes his freeze, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. Looking to the left, he sees an approaching figure and quickly ducks near a rocky spot, not wanting to be seen by the human. He had observed them enough from a distance to know they weren't the friendliest creatures with his species, and being vulnerable without his skin, Gabriel didn't want to mess with one of them. The human walked past his hiding spot, standing near the edge of the rocks, looking out to the sea. Gabriel notices he's humming sofly under his breath, though he can't quite pick out what he's saying.

The man's dressed similar to the skin hunters that were chasing him and his pod, but at the same time, the way the man moves suggest he isn't exactly like those skin hunters. Gabriel inches closer, fascinated by the man, peering out from his hiding spot. The ocean, of course, decides to be cruel to him once more as she washes over the rock he's standing on, sending a wave just hard enough to unbalance Gabriel and cause his arm to drag alongside one of the rocks while scrabbling for some grip. He lets out a low growl and the man turns to look over his shoulder, causing Gabriel to duck with curse.

He glares at the ocean, holding his scratched arm close to his chest, praying that the man will leave, assuming it's nothing, but he doesn't. Instead, he comes closer to where Gabriel's hiding.

"Hello? Who's there?" the man calls out and Gabriel glances around, looking for an easy way to escape undetected but it seemed he was trapped. "I know there's someone there, and I don't mean any harm, it's just, you sound like you're hurt and I was wondering if you're okay."

The man seems sweet and Gabriel takes a deep breath before peering over the edge of the rock at the man. His own gold eyes meet hazel and the man offers a small smile.

"Hi, you okay?" the man asks kindly, and Gabriel blinks at him, his mind translating all the words carefully so he could understand it. Then he nodded.

"You sure?" the man looked a bit hesitant now and Gabriel frowns, glancing back down at his arm and side before giving the man a shrug. "What are you doing on the beach? It seems too dangerous for swimming."

Gabriel's not quite sure what to say, mulling over a decent response that won't give enough away. "Chaill ( _lost_ )," he finally settles upon and the man looks at him lost.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand you." He shakes his head and Gabriel blushes, realizing his mistake before repeating what he said in English, and now the man's frowning as well.

"My ship crashed and I got separated from my –" _pod_ " – family." The man nods in understanding, looking a bit sad now.

"Where were you sailing from? Perhaps they haven't gone too far, just docked a town or two over," the man explained.

Gabriel paused, remembering roughly where they had last been. "Scotland."

"Oh. That's…That's quite the distance." The man shifts slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Do you know where you are?" He asks and Gabriel shakes his head. "Well, uh, welcome to St. John's, Newfoundland," he says with a slightly chuckle and Gabriel feels the panic begin to set in once more.

 _Newfoundland, that's_ miles _from where he and his pod had last been, and by now they were most likely_ miles _away from him! And without his pelt, he'd never be able to find them!_

"Hey, don't worry though; I'll help you find them. But in the meantime, we better head back to my place until this storm passes." The man's offer is nice and Gabriel finds himself hesitating before responding. "It's just over there," he adds, pointing to a small house just a little ways up the rocky shore when he noticed the hesitation the other man had.

Gabriel nods. "Okay." This couldn't be too bad, after all, he knows it would be impossible to find his skin in a storm and being in shelter rather than out in the open when the storm hits does sound lovely. Plus, it was close enough that he could still keep an eye on the beach if need be. "It's just…" he trails off, glancing down at his body before at the man's realizing he isn't dressed the similar to him.

"What?" The man starts to move closer but then his eyes suddenly go wide and he blushes. "Oh."

It seems he figured out what exactly Gabriel was trying to say and awkwardly avoiding his eyes, the man takes off his jacket he's wearing, handing it over to Gabriel. "Here. You can't exactly go around naked."

Gabriel puts on the jacket, zipping it up with some difficulty, and it goes to his knees. Then he steps out from behind the rock, joining the man, who no longer seemed to have pink cheeks and ears.

"I'm Sam."

The man now called Sam smiles and Gabriel returns it shyly. "Gabriel."

"Well Gabriel, how about we head back?" Sam says and he nods mutely, following the man to his house.

* * *

 **Yes, Newfoundland is a bit of a distance from Scotland but I wanted somewhere a bit farther away and Newfoundland doesn't get enough love so yeah. Fight me. More will be on the way with Gabriel trying to find his skin and get back to his pod.**

 **-Twist**


End file.
